Inside The Bills

Hard core football fans are always enamored with pure speed. So which one of the 327 prospects will run the fastest 40 time at this year’s NFL Combine? NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock had a lead pipe lock candidate, but that prospect turned down the Combine invite.

“It would’ve been (Florida’s) Jeff Demps, but Demps declined an invitation because he’s trying out for the U.S. Olympic team and he’s going to get ready for that,” said Mayock. “If it’s not Demps who might it be? You might not have to go any further than his college teammate Chris Rainey. Now urban legend has it that back in 2008 the two of them squared off behind their dorm building. Rainey won one and Demps won another. If that’s the case Chris Rainey may be the fastest player at this year’s Combine.”

Other players that Mayock mentioned were Baylor WR Kendall Wright, who reminds him a bit of Philadelphia WR DeSean Jackson, and North Carolina LB Zach Brown.

“I think (Wright is) going to run in that mid-4.3 range,” Mayock said. “Just as impressive if not more so is Zach Brown the linebacker from North Carolina. Now at 237 pounds he holds the North Carolina 60-meter record, not for football players, but for the entire student body. So which would be more impressive? Zach Brown running a 4.35 at 237 pounds or Rainey running a 4.25. For me I’d take the linebacker.”

Wall to wall coverage of the NFL Combine will begin on Buffalobills.com next Thursday from Indianapolis with 1-on-1 interviews with Bills GM Buddy Nix, head coach Chan Gailey as well as coverage of all the top prospects in this year’s draft class.